Cynthia Nixon Announces Run for New York Governor

“Sex and the City” Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon has announced her run for the New York governor’s seat. The actress made it official on yesterday, and she plans to run in the Democratic Primary against current Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Nixon, who was born in New York, was rumored to run in the gubernatorial race for months. She posted her official announcement to Twitter on Monday, along with an ad and a link to donate to her campaign, cynthiafornewyork.com

“New York is my home,” she said in the ad, which depicts Nixon in her home with her family, taking her son to school, walking through Manhattan, and riding the subway. “I’ve never lived anywhere else. When I grew up here, it was just my mom and me in a one-bedroom, fifth-floor walk-up. New York is where I was raised and where I’m raising my kids. I’m a proud public school graduate and a prouder public school parent. I was given chances I just don’t see for most of New York’s kids today. Our leaders are letting us down. We are now the most unequal state in the entire country, with both incredible wealth and extreme poverty. Half the kids in our upstate cities live below the poverty line. How did we let this happen? I love New York. I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else, but something has to change. We want our government to work again on health care, ending mass incarceration, fixing our broken subway. We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us.”

Nixon, who is married to activist Christine Marinoni, has also been vocal about education issues, and she served on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s advisory board for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. She was recently honored by the Human Rights Campaign with its Visibility Award for her work advocating for marriage equality and fighting stigma and prejudice.